Health News Roundup: Canada PM says AstraZeneca vaccine is safe, despite blood clot death; Indians rush for vaccines as COVID-19 death toll passes 200,000 and more

The South American country's health minister Carla Vizzotti formally requested a report on the progress in the production and quality control of the vaccine which is being made partially in Argentina and completed in Mexico and the United States. English medic hopes vaccines limit damage of any third COVID wave Progress with Britain's vaccine rollout should limit the damage from any third wave of COVID-19 infections, one of England's top doctors said on Wednesday, adding that there would likely still be bumps in the road in the coming year.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

EU demands immediate access to UK-made vaccines in AstraZeneca legal battle

European Union lawyers on Wednesday demanded AstraZeneca immediately deliver COVID-19 vaccines from its factories in Britain, in a move that risks reigniting a spat with London over scarce vaccine supplies. The call came in the opening hearing of the European Commission's legal case in Brussels against the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker over supply delays.

Canada PM says AstraZeneca vaccine is safe, despite blood clot death

AstraZeneca PLC's COVID-19 vaccine is safe and Canadians should have confidence in it, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday, reacting to news that a woman had died of a rare blood clot after being inoculated. Francine Boyer, 54, is the first Canadian fatality linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine. She received a shot on April 9 and died on April 23 in hospital where she was being treated for fatigue and headaches, her husband said in a statement.

Indians rush for vaccines as COVID-19 death toll passes 200,000

Indians struggled to register online for a mass vaccination drive set to begin at the weekend as the country's toll from the coronavirus surged past 200,000 on Wednesday, worsened by shortages of hospital beds and medical oxygen. The second wave of infections has seen at least 300,000 people test positive each day for the past week, overwhelming health facilities and crematoriums and prompting an increasingly urgent response from allies overseas sending equipment.

Idaho becomes latest state to pass 'fetal heartbeat' abortion ban

Idaho has become the latest Republican-led state to pass a "fetal heartbeat" law, prohibiting abortions after five or six weeks of pregnancy except in medical emergencies or in cases of rape or incest. The law, signed by Republican Governor Brad Little on Tuesday, follows a wave of similar legislation passed by states aiming to prompt a review of the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade, which guarantees a woman's constitutional right to an abortion.

Britain orders 60 million Pfizer COVID-19 shots for booster programme

Britain will buy 60 million more doses of Pfizer/BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine, health minister Matt Hancock said, in a deal that more than doubles the country's supply of the shot ahead of a booster programme later this year. Britain has now ordered a total of 100 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, one of three COVID-19 shots being rolled out in the country.

Argentina pushes AstraZeneca on COVID-19 vaccine supply amid hold-ups

Argentina's government said on Wednesday that it had met with representatives of drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc to ask about "difficulties" in the production of its COVID-19 vaccine and supply of it to the country. The South American country's health minister Carla Vizzotti formally requested a report on the progress in the production and quality control of the vaccine which is being made partially in Argentina and completed in Mexico and the United States.

English medic hopes vaccines limit damage of any third COVID wave

Progress with Britain's vaccine rollout should limit the damage from any third wave of COVID-19 infections, one of England's top doctors said on Wednesday, adding that there would likely still be bumps in the road in the coming year. England's Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam said that the "modelling consensus is clear that we will have what is called a third wave."

U.S. govt boosts Moderna COVID-19 vaccine contract to $1.25 billion

Moderna Inc said on Wednesday the U.S. government had agreed to increase the contract for the company's COVID-19 vaccine by $236 million to roughly $1.25 billion, to include additional costs related to the shot's studies. The company and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) had initially signed a $483 million deal for the vaccine in July last year, which was later increased to about $1 billion.

U.S. administers 234.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines - CDC

The United States has administered 234,639,414 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Wednesday morning and distributed 301,857,885 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday. Those figures are up from the 232,407,669 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Tuesday out of the 297,543,635 doses delivered.

Biden trade adviser and Bill Gates discussed IPR waiver for COVID-19 vaccines

U.S. President Joe Biden's top trade adviser met virtually with Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates on Tuesday about increasing COVID-19 vaccine production and the proposed waiver of intellectual property rights protections for vaccines. "Ambassador (Katherine) Tai emphasized that the Biden-Harris administration's top priority is saving lives and ending the pandemic, and she stressed her commitment to working on a coordinated global response to the COVID-19 pandemic," said a statement issued by Tai's office on Wednesday.